


Magnus Falls in Luuuv

by VeryDryWit



Series: The Dating Adventures of FierroChase [1]
Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, First Date, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, M/M, Slow and Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:02:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23823517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeryDryWit/pseuds/VeryDryWit
Summary: Valhalla is hosting a ball, but will Magnus have the nerve to ask a special green-haired someone to go with him?
Relationships: Magnus Chase/Alex Fierro
Series: The Dating Adventures of FierroChase [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1773940
Comments: 6
Kudos: 115





	Magnus Falls in Luuuv

Magnus sits at a Valhalla feast table, not feeling quite resurrected from the battle yesterday. Kind of fuzzyheaded, lacking concentration. Food, food is what he needs. Usually, he eats a lot after being killed. He takes a big bite of meat, then Alex shows up. Everyone from floor 19 grunts or says hello. Alex nods, and sits next to Mallory, without threatening anyone. She must be in a good mood. She? Yes, definitely a she right now. And the hair… it looks different. Greener? Next to him, TJ says,

“Are you going to chew that food, or just hold it in your mouth till it dissolves in a few years?”

Magnus gives TJ an irritated look, but can’t insult him until he’s finished chewing. Finally he swallows, and retorts,

“Well… You… You’re a…”

Magnus wants give a clever Civil War type insult, but all he can come up with is ‘rusty bayonet.’ But that would be rude to TJ’s weapon, like hitting below the belt. And his own sword, Jack might get upset… Meanwhile, Mallory says to Alex,

“Are you going to the ball?”

“A ball? You mean a dance to the death?” inquires Alex. Mallory shakes her head and explains,

“No… It’s more like senior prom. Lots of heroes were killed young, and didn’t get to attend social gatherings. Anyway, there’s no bloodshed, well, not much.”

Alex looks thoughtful, then replies,

“Maybe. It might be fun to dress up.”

Alex glances in Magnus’s direction, and Magnus gulps. Is he supposed to ask her to prom? Oh boy, never in a million Valhalla years had he expected to be in this situation… Then Alex grabs her plate of food and leaves. Magnus continues to stare at the vacant chair. Then he picks at his food, trying to decide what to do.

For the next week, he successfully manages to _not_ talk to Alex. Most of the time, his mouth opens and gapes like a fish. After a while, he wonders if he should ask her out with sign language.

A few nights later, TJ pats him on the back and prompts him,

“Aren’t you going to ask Alex to the ball?”

Magnus sighs, then shrugs his shoulders.

“I don’t know if I should. She likes her space…”

“All right. But it’s just one night of courtship, isn’t it? It’s not like you’re offering for her hand.”

Magnus whispers nervously back,

“No, no, definitely too early for a hand, or any body part! I didn’t exactly date a lot when I was on the streets... Once an old lady offered me a kiss in exchange for my sandwich. I gave her half my sandwich for free.”

“Well, you should ask her out. Alex, I mean, not your old lady with the sandwich. Worst she can say is no.”

As it turns out, the worst a person can answer is not ‘ _no._ ’ The worst a person can answer is,

“ _Oh. I don’t think so. But if I don’t have other plans, maybe I’ll change my mind._ ”

Alex had said the whole thing without even glancing at him at the dinner table. Magnus looks around the table, wishing he’d asked Alex in private. But he was losing his nerve, and TJ kept encouraging him… Magnus tries to answer casually,

“Right. Cool. Uh... keep me posted.”

Someone nearby makes the sound of an airplane crashing and burning. Magnus gives TJ a ‘ _look what you made me do_ ’ look, then quickly escapes to his room.

Later that evening, Mallory kicks opens Alex’s door, and something comes flying towards her, which she parries with a sword.

“Heard of knocking?” growls Alex. Mallory responds,

“You wouldn’t have let me in. Why aren’t you going to the prom with Magnus?”

Alex rolls her eyes and answers,

“He’s a doofus.”

“Yes. And a handsome blonde demigod...”

“Not my type.”

“... who’s kind and loyal...” continues Mallory.

“Too nice.”

“... and he can heal with his bare hands…”

“And spy into private memories.”

Mallory reflects for a moment, then says out loud,

“You know I’ve never seen Magnus be interested in anyone before... Not even a hot Valkyrie like Gunilla, or that really hunky Erik...”

Mallory sounds a bit wistful when mentioning Erik. Alex asks,

“Erik? Which one?”

“Erik Erickson, he lives between Erik bushy eyes, and Erik farts a lot.”

“Oh. He’s okay.”

Mallory returns to the main point,

“Anyway, it’s been obvious for a while that Magnus likes you. And you seem to like him, though you push him away most of the time. Just don’t wait, okay? People tend to move on.”

“You mean like Halfborn Gunderson? I saw him flirting with that Wakanda type warrior woman.”

“Arrrgh,” Mallory grunts angrily. Alex continues,

“Anyway, Magnus will end up marrying his first love: a falafel sandwich.”

Back in his room, Magnus sits on his patch of grass, feeling deflated. It wasn’t a complete no. It wasn’t ‘ _I don’t like proms, but I like you_ ’ no. It seemed like Alex couldn’t decide between watching _Game of Thrones_ for the twelfth time or spending time with Magnus. It felt worse than becoming a dragon chew toy that one time, when the beast wasn’t really hungry, so he just gnawed on Magnus's body for a while… Now what? Magnus decides to do what any heroic warrior would do: watch sappy prom movies.

After countless hours of emotional teen dramas, Magnus gathers up his courage and sends a raven to Blitzen. The dwarf arrives panting, exclaiming,

“You have a wardrobe emergency?!”

“Uh, yeah. So I’m going to prom…”

“Oooooh...”

“But probably alone. Now I’ve researched this whole prom thing, and it seems it’s okay to show up alone, as long as you’re wearing something spiffy.”

“Of course,” Blitzen agrees, as if that’s a given. He examines Magnus’s clothes and inquires, “What are we working with…?”

Magnus sighs. There’s no way he’s gonna get away with jeans and a T-shirt. Magnus closes his eyes, feeling like he’s jumping off a ship, and replies,

“You get to dress me. You decide.”

A few hours later, Magnus looks in the mirror, and sees a purple jacket with black lapels, gray skinny pants and a pink bow tie. Not what he would’ve chosen, but somehow it works.

“Hey, I look pretty nice,” Magnus exclaims in surprise. Blitzen rolls his eyes, then tells him,

“Now we have to plan the rest of the evening.”

Magnus gives him a panicked look, wondering what that could mean.

For another week, Magnus manages to not talk to Alex whatsoever. Again, his mouth opens and gapes like a fish. Great. If Alex does talk to him, he’ll have to pretend he’s been studying fish dialects.

The night of the prom, Helgi is at the door of the ballroom, holding a clipboard. He’s arguing with a Japanese samurai saying loudly,

“Tickets have been on sale for weeks, and half price on Wodan’s Day. Your lack of preparation is not my problem!”

Magnus interrupts,

“Hi, Helgi. Did Alex already go in by any chance?”

Helgi flips through sheets of paper, muttering,

“F... Fiorri...”

“Fierro.”

“No. Alex hasn’t entered yet.”

Then a big lumbering Norse type comes forward and says,

“Erik.”

Helgi scowls, and responds,

“Full name?”

“Erik, son of Erik, grandson of Erik.”

“So Erik Erickson.”

“Erik Erickson’s son.”

Helgi puts down the clipboard, and instead starts looking through a pile of papers taller than himself.

“I requested a new computer tablet, but noooo... Is that spelled Eric, Erik, Erick, Eerik...?”

Magnus waits by the entryway, wondering if Alex is gonna show up. She does. And everyone nearby stops and stares. For one thing, she’s ridiculously beautiful. But also, she’s wearing a pink gown, with little puffed sleeves that go off the shoulder, and a huge skirt that’s big enough to hide several warriors. Magnus steps forward, but he can’t get more than four feet close to her. He greets her with,

“Hi. Wow. You. Dress.”

Alex responds defensively,

“I told you I have moods. Sometimes I like really girly stuff.”

TJ chooses that moment to arrive and exclaim,

“Alex, you look breathtaking!”

TJ does a little bow in her direction, and she does a curtsy.

“You. Good,” says Magnus, still sounding like a caveman. Should he kiss her hand or something? Instead he fiddles with his bowtie nervously. She waits for a moment, then shrugs and says,

“What do you want to do?”

“Uh… Oh wait… here.”

Magnus pulls out a corsage. It’s a pink rose attached to a wire that has been transformed into a snake. Magnus attaches it to her arm, trying not to touch her skin accidentally. She takes it from him, and puts it on. Then she says,

“It’s nice. Did you know I’d be dressed as a girl?”

Magnus shakes his head, and tries to say,

‘ _Blitzen showed me how to attach it to a buttonhole, if you were wearing a suit.’_

What he actually says:

“Uh-uh. Hole.”

Alex frowns at him, then goes into the ballroom.

The enormous ballroom has been turned into a carnival, or more like _**Carnival!**_ There's music playing and lights flashing. There’s cotton candy and popcorn, a Ferris wheel so tall it must take an hour to go around, and stalls where you can throw knives, machetes and axes. A guy in a Highlander outfit suddenly screams “I won!!” and is given a giant duck plushy for his troubles. Over in the corner, small boats are floating in an artificial river. A couple of Valkyries are getting into one, holding hands and giggling. Then they disappear into a dark tunnel, with a sign saying _Tunnel of_ _Luuuv_.

“Luuv?” reads Alex. Hunding pops up behind her and explains,

“ _Tunnel of_ _Love_ is trademarked. The ride is four tickets, but as thanks for the chocolate, you two can go in for free.”

It’s the obvious place to kiss. Magnus tries to act casual and says,

“Do you like boats? I’ve never been in one that hasn’t been attacked by monsters…”

Magnus waits for another blistering comment about the horrible spelling of ‘Luuv.’ Instead Alex shrugs and says,

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Magnus gets in a boat, then puts his hand out to help her in. But the humongous dress is so big, Magnus ends up halfway underneath it. Alex quickly jumps back out, and Magnus offers,

“We don’t have to go on a ride. Look they have deep-fried everything here: deep-fried sugar, deep-fried butter, deep-fried butter covered in sugar…”

“I’ll be right back.”

Magnus nods, as Alex disappears behind a circus tent. He waits for barely a minute, when Alex reappears in a pink suit with a green bowtie. Alex says,

“All right, let’s try the boat again.”

The boat bobs back and forth, and slowly the current takes them into the tunnel. It’s dark, with flickering neon hearts, and smells like an abandoned aquarium. Alex remarks,

“It's the kind of place a psycho killer hacks people to pieces.”

So, probably not a good spot for kissing. Magnus agrees,

“Yeah.”

“So you’re finally able to talk to me again?”

Magnus hesitates, then replies honestly,

“So… the reason I’m nervous about dating, it’s… I’m… kind of … it's about your body. Bodies.”

“You’re nervous I might I turn into a cheetah?” asks Alex. Magnus’s eyes go wide, and he protests,

“What?! Uh... um, no, not that…”

Alex pats his arms, and reassures,

“Relax Magnus, just joking.”

Magnus sighs, then admits,

“Uh, the thing is… I’ve never been with anyone, in... a date-y way.”

“ _Daty_ way?” repeats Alex. Magnus clarifies,

“I’d never been kissed, by a human, except by you.”

“So you’ve… kissed a dwarf?”

Magnus cringes, then adds reluctantly,

“I was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation by a goat… Does that count?”

Alex scooches away, putting some distance between them. Magnus insists,

“Hey, it wasn’t recent… I’ve brushed my teeth since then.…”

Alex rolls his eyes and grumbles,

“I doubt it.”

Magnus tries to justify his situation,

“Before dying, I spent my time surviving, and now I spend my time handling my magical sword…”

Alex raises an eyebrow. Magnus throws his hands up and adds,

“Yes, that sounded dirty. Go ahead – make fun of me.”

“Too easy. Did you like kissing me?” he checks. Magnus covers his face with his hand, it feels like he’s burning in embarrassment.

“Mmmlwms.”

“What?”

“Uh… my brain turns into a puddle of snot whenever you’re around... I lose my head…”

Alex shakes his head and laughs.

“You sure have a way with words. You like people who decapitate you?”

“When they have brown and amber eyes...”

Alex stares at Magnus so intently, there must be cotton candy up his nose. Or maybe, just maybe, Alex wants to kiss Magnus as much as he wants to… Magnus edges closer, then Alex yells,

“Hold on!”

Magnus pulls back, thinking Alex means hold off on kissing. But then his stomach flies out of his mouth, or so it feels like. The boat, the water, and what’s left of his body falls into the dark.

They fall for a while, then everything lands. Thankfully, the water lands first, then they splash into the water.

“Ginnungagap?” sputters Alex, coughing out the smelly aquarium water.

“Bless you,” gasps Magnus.

“Ginnungagap is the gaping abyss mentioned in the Gylfaginning.”

“Oh, right,” responds Magnus, looking around. The cave is weakly illuminated, and surrounded by rock, and not much else. “No. Helheim!”

“No, not cold enough.”

“I meant it as a swear word, not a location,” explains Magnus. He was really looking forward to spending time with Alex without having to fight for their lives. Magnus examines the walls, checking if he can climb the steep walls.

“Assuming the opening is still open, we can fly out of here,” Alex tells him. He closes his eyes, then turns into a magnificent eagle, still wearing a bowtie and the corsage around its legs. Magnus gets closer, and feels talons grab his shoulders, and they fly upwards. They fly upwards awhile, much longer than downwards, not that he’s been checking a clock. He’s also worried Alex is getting tired, eagles don’t pant, but he’s flapping more and more slowly. Then the bats attack.

A black swarm of bodies flies around them. Alex clenches in pain, Magnus feels the eagle claws pierce his shoulders. They land on a ledge, and Alex turns back into human form. Magnus looks around and realizes they’re not bats, they’re ravens. He asks,

“What happened? Did a raven attack you?”

Alex clenches his chest, as blood seeps through his shirt. He explains,

“A beak hit my chest.”

Magnus reaches over with his hands, and Alex shakes his head. Magnus insists,

“You need my help, so we can get out of here.”

Alex hesitates, then winces in pain. He nods, and with shaking hands unbuttons his shirt. Then he jokes,

“This would be a lot more awkward if I was female right now…”

Magnus tries not to stare at the smooth skin of the chest, and focuses on the bloody wound on the left side. He puts his hand on it, and a glow illuminates the darkness. He can feel the tissue mending, next to the pumping heart. Then a memory image forms: the second time Alex kissed him, as a boy. Magnus sees his own face stunned in shock, and feels Alex’s disappointment. Soon the area is repaired, with only a slight scar. Magnus sighs in relief, then realizes that Alex’s face is inches away from his. There’s a definite tension again between them. Magnus reaches down very slowly, and kisses him. Alex deepens the kiss, pulling him down. It feels good, till Alex grabs his shoulders. Magnus moans in pain, and quickly pulls away. It’s hard to see Alex’s expression in the darkness.

“Too much?” asks Alex. Magnus nods and replies,

“Yeah. I was hoping on our first date, we wouldn’t be covered in murky water on a ledge full of bird poop.”

Alex nods, then pulls at Magnus’s purple jacket, exclaiming,

“You’re hurt! The shoulder pads were hiding the bleeding...”

“Right, I forgot about that…”

Magnus puts his own hands on his shoulders, and sends warm light to heal them. Then he turns to find Alex has transformed into a pink flamingo. Probably not as good a flyer, but the web feet are not as dangerous. Magnus holds on, and Alex takes off, struggling to fly upwards with the extra weight.

Finally, they make it through a hole and back into the ballroom. Alex, now human again, sits on the ground massaging his arms. Helgi shows up with his clipboard and says,

“Magnus, I do apologize. We’ve been trying to convert from 3G to 5G, and there are some difficulties.”

Magnus counters,

“We communicate with _ravens_. What does that have to do with 5G?”

Helgi explains,

“3G tunnels are three-gnome wide. Not enough space for the ravens to fly. So we’re widening to five-gnome wide, but it’s causing some cave-ins…”

“Does that mean we get a refund?” demands Alex. Helgi frowns at that suggestion, and offers,

“I’m afraid entrance tickets are nonrefundable. I could perhaps get you some coupons for skeet ball...”

“Free churros, or we’re giving a bad Yelp review,” haggles Magnus. Helgi gives a fake smile, and hands over a long sheet of tickets. Magnus takes the tickets, then gets ten churros, handing half of them to Alex. Alex doesn’t even bother to insult him, and just starts eating.

A few minutes later, a huge disco ball the size of a moon is lowered above the dance floor. The lights are dimmed, and little mirrored lights flicker everywhere as the ball spins.

“ _My endless loooove..._ ” someone starts crooning over a loudspeaker. A slow dance. Couples form on the dance floor, and Magnus quickly dusts the crumbs off his jacket. Then he offers,

“So... wanna dance? Unless you want to change first…?”

The pink suit looks damp and stained. Alex replies flatly,

“Magnus... I’m not good at being close to people. I lash out and I’ll hurt you. And you’re all fuzzy and warm... It’s not that I don’t like you, but... it’s better if we just stay friends.”

Magnus feels a weight in his chest, and responds,

“Oh... obviously I can’t force you to date me. I probably can’t even convince you to try the deep-fried bacon covered in chocolate. But I’m willing to risk getting hurt, ‘coz… you’re great. So go ahead – lash out at me.”

Alex becomes furious and explodes,

“You say I’m so great, but you don’t like _all_ of me. You prefer me as female! You don’t want to date me as a guy!”

Magnus frowns, confused. He thought his actions on the ledge had made the opposite perfectly clear. But he tries to put it into words,

“I… I was shocked when you kissed me as a boy. I never thought I’d be kissing boys. Boy. Oh boy...” Magnus runs his hand through his hair, then insists, “But I liked it! I like you… It was like discovering the realm of the gods: overwhelming, yet wonderful.”

Alex counters sullenly,

“But you wanted me to change _gender_ so we can dance.”

“No way! I thought you’d want to change your _clothes_! We’ve been drenched in stagnant boat water, rolled around in raven poo... Nevermind, I don’t care. We’re dancing like this.”

Magnus puts his arms around Alex’s waist, and sways back and forth. Alex puts his arms around Magnus’s neck. Alex looks away, not making eye contact. Then Alex asks quietly,

“Are you mad at me?”

“No. You’ve been hurt badly. It’s gonna take a while for you to trust me.”

Magnus wants to add that beaten stray dogs often bite, but figures that Alex won’t appreciate the comparison. Yet Alex is still not making eye contact.

“Now what’s wrong?” asks Magnus. Alex replies with a slight smile,

“You’re a terrible dancer.”

Magnus suddenly feels like his heart does a somersault. He’d do just about anything to see that beautiful face smile. Magnus puts his hand up in the air and makes the sign for ‘ _song._ ’ Then he grins and responds,

“You haven’t seen nothing yet.”

Suddenly a blinding light hits them, a spotlight from the stage. Blitzen’s voice booms over the loudspeaker,

“And now a special request for our new couple… _Footloose_!”

A twangy rock ’n roll song starts to play. Magnus dances around, trying to look cool. Alex watches in shock for a moment, then collapses on the floor laughing.

Magnus and Alex dance a good portion of the night, then return to floor 19. Magnus stands in the hallway in front of his room, wondering how to say good night. Should he try to kiss again? Suddenly Mallory pokes her head out and says,

“Come on, we’re watching Valhalla’s funniest battle videos!”

Alex nods and says,

“Magnus is such a klutz, he’ll be featured a lot!”

Magnus follows reluctantly. He’s not really in the mood for video clips, but he’d like to spend more time with Alex. Mallory’s room is full of people, and a big screen is showing a video of a guy getting an arrow in the butt and farting loudly. Magnus finds a place on a big sectional couch. Alex curls up next to him, puts her head on his shoulder, and starts snoring. Magnus stares in shock, then he feels a surge of happiness, like he just won the lottery. This is the best night ever! He smiles goofily. Mallory observes them and comments,

“Alex likes you.”

Magnus hedges,

“It was an exhausting evening – it doesn’t mean anything.”

“It means you finally figured it out.”

“Huh?” responds Magnus. He hasn’t figured anything out. Mallory explains,

“Whatever it was that was bothering him, it’s okay now. Or he wouldn’t be sleeping on you.”

“She. She wouldn’t be sleeping on me,” corrects Magnus without thinking. He looks down at Alex’s face, she seems to be smiling. His heart does some kind of jig, and he stares at the video screen, trying to stay perfectly still. He’s willing to watch 10,000 hours of Valhalla warrior bloopers if Alex is at his side.

**Author's Note:**

> I really a big fan of Alex Fierro, I hope Rick Riordan writes more stories with Alex as the protagonist. Thanks for reading!
> 
> I'm interested in how my writing made you feel or think, if you'd like to give me feedback!


End file.
